Hawks at Thunder
A few days off helped Russell Westbrook find his shooting touch, and the Oklahoma City Thunder guard hopes to keep the hot hand going into Friday’s home contest against the Atlanta Hawks. Westbrook hit just 1-of-12 from 3-point range in Saturday’s loss to Denver, but after three days off he finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists in the Thunder's 100-83 home win over Cleveland on Wednesday.
Westbrook shot 10-of-17 from the field and drained two of his five 3-point attempts in tying Jason Kidd for third on the all-time triple-double list at 107. “Good or bad nights, I do whatever I can, whatever my team needs at the time,” Westbrook told the media after Wednesday’s game. The Hawks have won just five times this season but two of those victories came this week - Sunday against Charlotte and Tuesday at Miami - but fell to the Hornets 108-94 on Wednesday. Rookie Trae Young scored 18 points in the loss for Atlanta, which shot just 34.4 percent from the field.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE HAWKS (5-17): Young averages 15.9 points per game, and has scored 17 or more in the past three games after failing to reach double figures in five of his previous six contests. Rookie Kevin Huerter shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range to score 12 points against the Hornets on Wednesday while starting in place of Kent Bazemore, who added eight points off the bench. Atlanta is last in the league in turnovers per game (17.7) and next-to-last in points allowed per game (117.8).
ABOUT THE THUNDER (13-7): Paul George leads Oklahoma City in scoring at 23.7 points per game, finishing with 18 on Wednesday, and ranks third in the NBA in steals per contest (2.2). Westbrook is having another fantastic season, averaging 23.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game, with three triple-doubles in his past four games. The Thunder rank fifth in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing 104.4 points per game.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta G Justin Anderson scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field Wednesday in his fifth game of the season.
2. Former Atlanta G Dennis Schroder has averaged 17 points across his past five games for the Thunder, including a 32-point performance on 12-of-19 shooting from the field Nov. 21 against Golden State.
3. George shot 8-of-13 from the field Wednesday after going 16-for-42 in his previous two games.